1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to piconet wireless networks. More particularly, it relates to the implementation of a cell phone extension using BLUETOOTH™ piconet type cordless telephone profile communications.
2. Background of Related Art
Cell phones are typically configured so that one phone is associated to one phone number. When a caller calls the cell phone, the user must locate the called cell phone, and answer the incoming call.
There are times, however, when the user is not in a convenient position to answer a ringing cell phone, or in a convenient position to have someone else (e.g., a co-worker or family member) answer the cell phone for them. For instance, if a cell phone rings in a meeting, the user may not want to disrupt the meeting to answer the call. In such a case, it might be more convenient to have someone outside the meeting answer the telephone call, e.g., a secretary, receptionist, etc.
As another example, a wife's cell phone may ring while it sits in her briefcase in the back seat of a car. Her husband has his own cell phone, but at a different telephone number. Conventional techniques allow the wife to forward all telephone calls to her husband's cell phone until otherwise instructed.
As yet another example, a manager may be making a presentation to a large group when his cell phone starts ringing. Neither he nor an assistant can make it to the cell phone without interrupting the meeting. Using conventional techniques, the manager should have called the service provider to arrange for call forwarding of all incoming telephone calls to another phone before he entered the meeting.
Conventionally, call forwarding convenience is provided by a service provider such as a telephone company. FIG. 3 depicts call forwarding in a conventional cell phone scenario.
In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, a wireless network 310 includes a first cellular telephone 302 and a second cellular telephone 304. In accordance with a preset call forwarding arrangement 330, an incoming telephone call from a wireless or landline phone 320 to the second cellular telephone 304 is forwarded to the first cellular telephone 302 using the preset call forwarding arrangement 330.
Call forwarding is a revenue generating feature often provided for a fee by a telephone company (wireless or landline). To activate call forwarding, a user typically must call their service provider (be it wireless and/or landline) and provide a single telephone number to forward all calls to for a particular telephone number.
If the user desires the calls to be forwarded to another telephone number, then they must call the service provider again and ask that the call forward number be changed. While this is convenient, it lends itself to more static scenarios. Thus, such preset arrangement and payment for call forwarding is useful for longer term situations (e.g., user will be out of office for a week, etc.) and is less practical for quick, spur of the moment type situations (e.g., ad hoc meeting).
Moreover, calls may be forwarded to only one other telephone number. There is no provision in conventional call forwarding techniques which allows forwarding to more than one telephone number simultaneously allowing any of a plurality of other telephone numbers to answer an incoming telephone call to a particular cellular telephone.
Also, from a service provider's perspective, it is preferred that an incoming call be answered, rather than simply forwarded to voice mail, so as to incur billable air time.
Accordingly, there is a need for a quick and efficient cellular telephone feature which allows arrangement for an incoming call to one cellular telephone to be answered by any of a plurality of other devices in a more real time environment.